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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “contact console”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “contact console”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Constant Contact + WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.8★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #6 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Search Console 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Autocomplete Location Field for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 PopupReply for Contact Form 7 100+ · 3.0★ (8) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 UltimaTour Contact Forms 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 22 Constant Contact + WooCommerce 1K+ · 1.8★ (10) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Contact Forms 7 Digital Signature Add-On 300+ · 2.6★ (5) wp.org #23 24 SMTP for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #24

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.